


more hazardous than fire

by ladykestrel



Category: The Winner's Trilogy - Marie Rutkoski
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-26
Updated: 2014-11-26
Packaged: 2018-02-23 10:36:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2544428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladykestrel/pseuds/ladykestrel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arin moved closer, shortening the distance between her and him. He took her hand in his. Kestrel felt like the fire inside the house had moved into her blood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	more hazardous than fire

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the 'the fire alarm went off at 3AM and now the cute guy from the flat next door is standing next to me in his underwear' AU.

***

It felt like Kestrel had just fallen asleep when the sound of clanking awoke her. Somebody outside the house was making a huge racket.

Kestrel peered through the window, gazing out to the beautiful, cloudless night sky. She saw a Herrani man frantically waving a metal bell up and down. His mouth formed indistinct words, but it was obvious he was shouting an alarm to the house’s sleeping habitants. Kestrel sat and watched the man as she wondered what could have possibly happened at this late hour.

The door to her suit burst open and startled Kestrel. She turned to see Sarsine standing in the doorway in her nightdress. The girl’s face was alight with urgency. Sarsine was carrying a small candle in one hand, the flame visibly shaking from her arm’s trembling.

“We must go,” Sarsine urged Kestrel. Arin’s cousin bore an expression that told Kestrel she had better not ask questions. She followed Sarsine out of the room.  
***

“There has been a fire,” Sarsine explained once the two girls reached an exit. “Mirenah had been trying to make herself some tea, but she forgot about it.”

“Oh,” Kestrel said. That explained the Herrani’s frantic bell ringing.

Sarsine was looking around the lawn. Her eyes set on a younger looking Herrani man. She called his name. When he took sight of her, the man ran over to where she and Kestrel were standing.

“Is everyone out,” the Herrani girl asked.

“Everyone but Arin, Saba and Korchan,” the man replied.

At the mention of Arin’s name, Kestrel felt her heart skip a beat. He was still in the house, in what could quickly be turning into a blaze. Her stomach knotted at the thought of Arin surrounded by deadly flames.

“Why have they not gone out yet,” Kestrel blurted out in Herrani before she could stop herself.

The man looked at her with shock, “They were helping the other, making sure everyone got out of the house safe.”

“How big is the fire,” Kestrel’s questions continued. “Isn’t somebody doing anything to stop it?” Sarsine gave her a dirty look, but her eyes held the same inquiries.

“Sabatin and Korchan are handling it as we speak,” was the Herrani’s answer. “They assured me everything was under control.”

Something had caught the attention of the other Herrani bystanders and the three turned towards the house to see what was happening. Smoke was coming out of one side of the façade, and orange-red tints could be seen flickering from inside the kitchen windows. Kestrel wondered if this was the Herrani’s idea of “handling” a fire.

The smoke wasn’t what drew the people’s attention, however, but the two silhouettes emerging from the house’s main entrance. One of them belonged to Arin, who was marching steadily to where people where standing. Kestrel felt the knot in her stomach untangle. Relief hit her like a fired cannon.

Kestrel saw the exact moment Arin set his sight on her. His face, as if it had been wrenched too hard, pulled loose and softened at the edges. He kept his eyes on her the entire time, even when some of the Herrani men walked up to him. Arin talked to them, his lips were moving, forming words Kestrel could not hear, but his stare remained on her. It burned brighter than the flames behind him. Sarsine and the Herrani man were nowhere around her. Kestrel hadn’t even noticed they’d disappeared.

It was when Arin made his way towards her that Kestrel finally took his attire into account. Her face flamed up when she noticed what he was wearing – or, more appropriately, what he wasn’t wearing. Kestrel tried to advert her gaze, she was looking anywhere but at Arin, who was already in front of her. She, at last, settled on his face. His eyes were filled with unspoken relief which made Kestrel sigh deeply.

Neither of them knew what to say. They only stared into each other’s eyes.

Sarsine appeared beside them and cleared her throat. “Am I interrupting something?”

Kestrel squeaked out, “No!” at the same time as Arin said, “Not at all!”

“Good, because Hector wants to know if more water is needed.”

“He should ask Sabatin, he came out with me to make sure his wife was doing alright.”

Sarsine gave a curt nod and walked away. Arin’s attention turned back to Kestrel. During the exchange between the two cousins, her eyes had wandered again. Her cheeks turned even redder when Arin caught her staring.

He exclaimed, “Lady Kestrel! Such poor manners on you!”

Kestrel grew more embarrassed, but she gave Arin a wide smile nonetheless. He returned the gesture and even chucked a little.

“I realize this is not the most formal attire…” Arin’s voice trailed off. He resumed a beat later, “I had to move quickly, being responsible for these people and all. It what the only thing I had time to put on.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

“Perhaps I want to.”

Kestrel didn’t know how to reply. She looked down at the grass.

“You’ve no shoes on,” she remarked.

“I haven’t got a lot on me right now,” Arin laughed. “Don’t be embarrassed, Kestrel.”

“I’m not embarrassed,” she said and felt more heat rising to her cheeks. Arin noticed too and laughed. His voice, Kestrel thought, was like a sweet sweet melody, ringing through her ears.

Arin moved closer, shortening the distance between her and him. He took her hand in his. Kestrel felt like the fire inside the house had moved into her blood. Arin stepped forward. Their bodies were a breath away from each other. Kestrel’s other hand, impulsively, settled over Arin’s heart. She tried to ignore the thinness of the night shirt – the only piece of clothing he had on. She tried to not notice the heat of his body, nor the transparency of the cloth.

Kestrel focused on Arin’s heartbeat.

It felt like it was going to burst under her fingertips.

Arin was stepping closer, closer, closer. Kestrel did not move. Soon the space between then would disappear. Her heart screamed. She was getting too much air and yet not enough. Kestrel sucked in a breath when Arin’s lips were just a hair away from her own.

A shout reached their ears. Someone was calling Arin’s name.

Kestrel jerked away. Her mind cleared and she realized what had been about to happen, had it not been for the interruption. She would have let it happen. Her mind reeled.

Turning back to her, Arin started, “Kestrel–”

“You’re needed there,” Kestrel curtly stated. She backed away when Arin reached for her. “Go, your people are waiting.”

Grey eyes bore into her before walking away from where she stood. Kestrel stayed rooted in her spot on the grass.

She stayed there the whole night through.


End file.
